A CUNNING fox has been captured stealing eggs from outside a woman's home - after she set up a camera pointing at her doorstep to catch the culprit.

Hilarious footage shows the clever creature sneaking up to the doorstep and having a nose around before sniffing out a box containing a dozen eggs.

He can then be seen clasping it in his jaw before nonchalantly strolling away to enjoy.

The brilliant footage was captured by mum-of two Helen Greenwood, 42, who went into detective mode last week after her egg delivery went missing for the third time.

She said: "We thought it would be fun to find out what was going on by catching it on camera.

"In the morning, my husband checked the video clips and we just laughed.

"We got a clip of the milkman delivering the milk and eggs, carefully placing them in the box on our step.

"And then a while later, there was a clip of the cunning fox stealing them, and then another clip of the fox coming back to check if there were any more."

Helen, a charity worker, said she was a "bit annoyed" to have so much food stolen but praised how "clever" the fox was.

She started getting milk and eggs delivered amid the nationwide lockdown due to limitations on leaving the house and stock shortages in many shops.

However, when half of her order kept going missing she called the company, who were just as confused about what was going on.

Helen said: "We did wonder if it could be a fox, but thought foxes would have left crushed eggs and cardboard in their wake.

"It seemed far too neat for it to be foxes."

In order to solve the riddle once and for all Helen bought a webcam and downloaded software which starts a recording when movement is sensed.

When they tried it out during the day it captured a kindhearted copper delivering chocolate Easter eggs to local houses with rainbows in the windows.

Early the next morning Helen watched footage of the milkman delivering their eggs and then saw the fox turning up a short time later to take them away.

She said: "We were very impressed with how clever and neat the fox was.

"I had assumed they would knock over the milk in the process, but in the morning, there was no trace it had been there.

"It’s slightly annoying to have lost our eggs, but it’s satisfying to have solved the mystery and it gives us something to laugh about in the current climate.

"Maybe it’s an example of how the wildlife are reclaiming the city during the lockdown."

Helen said for her next delivery this week she will put out a container with a lid or a bread bin for the milkman to leave their delivery inside.

She added: "I think we will have to be a bit cunning though to trick this particular fox."